


Open Water

by marksmay



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:44:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1979835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marksmay/pseuds/marksmay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loosely based on the accidental bra photo that was tweeted and the completely fictional events that followed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Babe, can you take a photo of me in this bra? I have to post something for Nike soon." Ali asked after training one day.

"I, uh, yeah. Of course." I cleared my throat to try and cover up my momentary lapse. I've been with this woman for almost four years now and I've seen her plenty of times with much, much, less clothing on, yet she still has the same effect on me. Clothed or not. I tried to recover suavely but it was too late. Ali saw me get flustered and had a smirk on her face. I felt myself turn red and rolled my eyes.

"Make sure you get the swoosh in the back okay?"

I tried to find the perfect angle but either way, I was still visible in the frame. "Babe, it's impossible to get the swoosh in the shot and have me not in the picture. Why don't I just take the picture of you and not of your reflection on the mirror?"

"Well, how are you gonna get the swoosh that way then? There's no swoosh in the front."

"Then I'll take a picture of your back."

"But then you won't see my face."

"So then turn your pretty little face and look back?"

"No, that won't work. This is fine. Here, I'll flex and you can hide behind my muscles." She jokingly suggested and laughed and I laughed with her but it was actually stupid enough to actually work. I managed to get the perfect angle on the shot.

"Okay, that one should be good. Send that to me?" Ali asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll do it right - SHIT!"

"What? What is it?" I momentarily ignored her as I scrambled to delete it.

"I tried to share it through text and accidentally hit Twitter instead. You would think that's no problem right? I'll just press cancel. But nope. I press 'Tweet' instead. Fuck. It's deleted now. I just deleted it. But I'm pretty sure people already saw it anyways. But not that many people hopefully. Fuck fuck fuuuuck. I'm so sorry, Al." I was babbling with panic as I tried to apologise.

"Well, it was an accident and you didn't mean it. It's fine." She shrugged it off, which was the exact reaction that I wasn't expecting. At all. "But now, you have to take another photo of me tomorrow."

I felt so bad. Ali never wants any attention on the two of us together and doing that basically almost all but outed us.

 

********

 

"Babe, which one is better - this one or this one?" Ali asked me as she flipped through pictures on her phone. After the whole incident yesterday, I was actually surprised that she was 1) still going to post something and 2) post it so shortly after. I looked at each photo intently (really, I was just marveling how stunning she looked in a sports bra) and chose one for her to upload.

"I'm sorry again I accidentally tweeted that photo, Alex." I said quietly.

"Ash, how many times do I have to tell you? It's okay. Really." she insisted multiple times every time I apologised but I couldn't help it. I must have said sorry at least a hundred times since the incident.

"No it's not. It's bad enough I tweeted it from my account but people saw it and they already suspect something and I know how you are with that so I just feel really bad about it. I'm really sorry."

"Babe. I'm telling you. I. Don't. Care. People already know about us and I honestly don't care anymore. I'm more upset that I didn't get to use that photo than anything. That was a really good photo."

And with that, she grabbed my face and kissed me. And I melted into her touch instantly. As she pulled away, I was still caught up in the moment. Eyes closed and everything. When I finally snapped out of it, that's when I fully processed what Ali had just said.

"Wait. You don't care about people knowing about us?" I asked, making sure to raise my eyebrows suggestively. "Since when??"

"What, you don't believe me?"

"Not at all. You cannot possibly be one hundred percent okay with everyone knowing about us and us being out and shit." I was worried Ali only said that to make me feel better about the accidental post. I know her too well and there's no way she's okay with coming out.

"I really am one hundred and ten percent okay with it. It's not like it's some big secret that people don't already know about."

I merely raised my eyebrows again to challenge her. Oh, I am totally not buying this.

She flailed her arms up in frustration. "You really don't believe me.” She crossed her arms in front of her, signaling that she wasn’t playing around anymore. “What? Want me to prove it to you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may continue this. What do you think? Yay or nay?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for your responses! Hope you enjoy :)

"Want me to prove it to you?"

I thought she was just teasing or something but seeing her face of concentration as she was on her phone got me thinking she was actually going to do something.

"Babe. Don't do anything you'll regret. As we all know, once something is on the Internet, there's no going back." I warned her as I sunk into my seat, having learned my lesson.

"Why do you think I'll regret this? I'm kind of glad you accidentally posted that photo because now I get to post this."

With that, my mind went to the worst possible scenario. I legitimately thought she was going to post something really embarrassing to get revenge on me or something. "What exactly are you posting, babe?"

"You'll see soon enough." Ali winked and continued about on her phone.

Not even a minute later, my phone exploded with notifications. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, text messages. The works. This is bad. This is very, very, very, very, very, bad.

"Can you give me a hint at least as to what to check first?" I pleaded.

"Instagram." she let out a toothy grin and I saw a sparkle in her eyes as she excitedly waited for me to see what she posted.

I scrolled down a bit and just stared at my phone in shock. I looked at Ali who was still grinning and back to my phone. My jaw was still on the floor and I was literally speechless.

Ali had posted a photo of us that our trainer took about a week ago. I had my left arm protectively over her shoulder and my right arm up and my biceps flexed. Ali had her left arm low on my waist and her right bicep flexed. And we both had the biggest smiles anyone could have. It wasn't too couple-y of a picture, I thought to myself. And that's when I saw what she captioned it. Underneath the photo, it read: "the couple that trains together, stays together" along with an emoji of two girls, a bicep, and a rainbow.

After what seemed like at least half an hour but was really more like 2 minutes, I was still speechless and processing everything that had just happened.  
Ali just laughed and went to kiss me. "I love you so much, you big dork." The kiss got very heated very quickly, but Ali pulled away before anything more could happen, much to my dismay.

"Do you want to tell me what made you change your mind?" I asked Ali carefully.

"Um, I don't know. I guess everything?" Ali mumbled. "Truth is, I've been thinking about this a lot. I see how happy you get when I let you post a photo of us together. And I saw how happy you got when I posted that photo of us on the way to Tampa. And I guess... I don't know, seeing you that happy made me really happy."

At Ali's confession, my heart melted and soared at the same time. This woman is the most caring and compassionate human being and I am so lucky she chose to be with me out of all people. Tears were now threatening to spill. "Alex, you don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. But you should have come out for yourself. On your own terms. A lot of things make me happy and just being with you is so much more than I could have ever dreamed of."

"Ashlyn, see, you are the most selfless and loving person in the world. I know being out and open really strained our relationship at first. That and the distance. But I want to thank you for sticking it out with me for this long. And I can honestly say that you had nothing to do with my decision to do this. This wasn't about you or me; this was about us."

At that point, my face was covered in tears and a big smile. "I love you so much, Alex." I managed to say as she kissed me softly.

She smiled into the kiss and pulled away for a moment. "Besides, it was bound to happen. I was going to have to do it anyways when you propose to me, right?" She bit her bottom lip teasingly and kissed me again. I was so lost in her touch that I didn't realize what she said until shortly after.

I pulled away quickly. "Wait. How did you know I was going to propose to you??" I asked alarmingly, wondering if someone I confided in spilled the beans and let her in on the surprise.

"Wait. You're proposing to me?!" Ali shrieked excitedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't leave you hanging like that. I'll probably have one or two chapters left! Once again, thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait. You're proposing to me?!" Ali shrieked excitedly.

Shit. "Uhh, no! No, I'm not proposing to you." I tried to recuperate. But then I saw her face fall. Shit. "I mean, yeah I'm going to propose to you. But like, not at this very moment." I shrugged apologetically and nervously scratched the back of my neck.

"Okay, so to be clear..." Ali lead.

"To be clear, yes I plan on proposing to you someday but no, that day is not today."

"Haha, okay." Ali chuckled. "Just making sure."

"Haha, yeah." I had a small fit of nervous laughter and I'm pretty sure my voice is shaking right now. "Don't worry. I, for sure, plan on marrying you. You're my endgame." I smiled.

 

******* A few weeks later *******

 

Ali's birthday was in a few days and we were now preparing everything for the party the weekend before her birthday since it fell on a Monday this year. A bunch of teams in the league had a by week that weekend, including ours, so it worked out perfectly. All of our good friends were flying in. Syd, Carm, and Pinoe were especially excited to get away from Seattle for a little bit. HAO promised to come down to DC, too. Ali's mom and Ashlyn's grandma, mom, and brother were flying from Florida, as well. And of course, there's no way Kyle would miss his sister's thirtieth birthday.  
Ashlyn had elaborately planned a barbecue at Mr. Krieger's backyard since their apartment was way too small to accommodate everyone.

The party was in full swing and Ashlyn and Mr. Krieger started barbecuing as Ali was busy talking to everyone and thanking them for coming. Meanwhile, Ali's mom and Kyle made their way to Ashlyn.

"So Ash, you've outdone yourself again." Kyle spoke up.

"Yeah, well... it's the princess' Dirty Thirty. Gotta make her happy." I chuckled.

"And you make her so so so happy." Debbie smiled.

"I try." I replied, blushing.

"So when are you gonna do it, kid?" Ali's father asked me. Debbie playfully smacked him. "We were easing our way into that, Ken!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "I was actually thinking about doing it tonight. Maybe when she's opening her gifts back at home."

"Oh, honey!" Deb clutched her chest and hugged me. "That's perfect. We can have an engagement luncheon tomorrow then! I'll make reservations just in case."

"Haha, I mean, she has to say yes first." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Don't be a dumb ass, dude. She's going to say yes. Besides, I can't believe she actually came out about you guys. I thought for sure she'd wait until you popped the question."

Debbie agreed and they flowed the conversation. I looked up from the grill and spotted Ali across the patio with Carm, Syd, Pinoe, and HAO. She was already looking at me with a twinkle in her brown eyes and a soft smile. I chuckled and winked at her as I went back to grilling and she went back to her conversation.

The barbecue went off without a hitch. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the opportunity to catch up. The party eventually died down at a reasonable time but only because there was another full day of birthday celebrations to be had tomorrow. As Ali and I left for our apartment, Ken, Debbie, and Kyle made sure to quietly wish me luck.

 

*****

 

Once we got home, I could tell Ali was tired. “Hey babe, I’m just gonna hop in the shower real quick.” Ali said as she kissed my cheek and headed to the bathroom.

Perfect. Now I have time to get my shit together and prepare.

I dimmed the lights, "lit" a few candles (the fake, LED battery power kind), and put out a trail of rose petals leading to the rooftop of our apartment. At the rooftop, I laid out a picnic blanket and some pillows along with Ali's favorite champagne. The fairy lights we hung up last year provided a great ambiance along with a few more candles that I lit (the real kind this time). Everything was perfect. I reached in my pocket to make sure the small velvet box was still there when I heard Ali calling for me.

On cue, the door opened and Ali peeked out. I gave her a warm smile as she walked in.

"What's all this babe?" she asked as she walked over to where I was standing and grabbed my hands.

"Al, these past few years we've been together have been the best of my life. I can barely remember life without you and I don't want to. You've changed my life so much and your love is the greatest thing anyone could have ever given me. Your love, it's like... an ocean. Endless and all encompassing. It's like the tide and we may pull away from each other at times but we always end up right back together again. Nothing short of the moon could ever pull me away from you. Honestly, Alex, sometimes I wonder if this is all just a dream. But if this is a dream, I hope I never wake up. I hope I never have to live in a world without you. And I think I must have done something right in my past lives to deserve you in this one. I must have done something right along the way. I just always want to have you right here by my side. I love you so much and you make me so, so happy. I hope you'll let me spend forever trying to make you even happier than you've made me."

It was a miracle that I made it through that speech without crying, especially since Ali was on the verge of manic tears. I could tell she was trying her hardest to keep it in by covering her mouth with her hand. But there was still one little thing I had to do.

I took a deep breath, pulled out the ring from my pocket, and knelt down on one knee. "Alexandra Blaire Krieger, will you marry me?"

At this point, there was no holding back Ali's tears. Or mine, for that matter.

"Yes." she managed to choke out quietly.

Hearing those words made my heart leap out of my chest. I got up and squeezed her in a long, tight hug, only pulling away to kiss her. After, I slid the ring on her finger.

"I can't believe I get to marry you." she chuckled as she rested her forehead on mine and looked deep into my eyes.

"Thanks for saying yes." I smiled sheepishly.

Ali laughed a hearty laugh. "Did you think I'd say no or something?" she asked, almost offended.

"Well, no. But you never know." I shrugged.

"Oh my god, I have to call mom and tell her." she said suddenly, ruining the moment just a tad.

I groaned and pulled her down by the waist to the picnic blanket. "That can wait. Let's celebrate first." I said, swirling the champagne bottle in my hand.

"This is my best birthday ever. Thank you, Ashlyn."

I handed her a champagne flute. "Here's to... our love. Cheers, babe."

We clinked our glasses and laid out under the lights and stars. This is just the beginning of the rest of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading guys!


End file.
